In the rural area of San Rafael, Holguín, a blind elderly man named Juan Ridel Domínguez Martínez faces extreme poverty while living in isolation. He sleeps on a wooden board with cardboard as his mattress, uses a bucket for a toilet, and cooks on makeshift stoves with exposed wires.
This harrowing tale was captured by social activist Noly Blak in a Facebook video that has garnered over 32,000 views. Juan Ridel, completely blind, performs household tasks by feel alone. During Blak's visit, the elderly man had only a small amount of rice and a flour broth he couldn't cook due to a power outage. "I tried cooking a bit of rice this morning, but the power went out, and that's all I have," he recounted.
His home becomes fully soaked when it rains, and the live electrical wires pose a constant threat, yet he claims he's avoided electrocution by knowing where not to touch. Ridel can't accurately recall his age, simply stating, "I don't remember anymore, my son," when asked.
The Struggle for Survival
Living with a disability, Juan Ridel receives a pension of roughly 3,000 pesos monthly. However, reaching the town to collect his pension costs him 2,000 pesos for a tricycle ride, the area’s sole transportation option. This leaves him with a mere 1,000 pesos for food and other basic needs. "He ends up with just a thousand pesos," Noly Blak highlighted in the video.
Once, after queuing at the bank, Ridel found the funds had run out and had to wait at another window. "Oh, dear God, how will I pay the 2,000 pesos and buy food?" he recalled in distress.
A Life of Loss and Resilience
Ridel has no children and has lost his entire family—his father, mother who passed from cancer, and his brother, whom he described as "my life."
Noly Blak shared a CUP account number and WhatsApp contact for those wishing to assist Juan Ridel. "It's tragic that our elders have become prisoners of their own money," Blak concluded.
Norge Ernesto Díaz Blak, known as Noly Blak, has been documenting and organizing aid for people in extreme poverty in Holguín. In April, one campaign raised over 3.6 million pesos for a mother with three children, and another in May gathered over 1.1 million pesos for two siblings in dire conditions.
Elderly Hardship Amid Economic Crisis
The plight of Juan Ridel highlights a severe humanitarian crisis affecting Cuban seniors. The devaluation of pensions, coupled with food and medicine shortages and mass emigration, has worsened living conditions for countless elderly across the island.
The Cuban Human Rights Observatory reports that 79% of those over 70 cannot eat three meals per day, amid failing basic services, extensive power outages, and crumbling infrastructure.
Despite the government's September move to raise the minimum pension to 4,000 pesos, it falls short against inflation and the rising costs in the informal market. Many seniors face harsh realities with inadequate pensions and a crumbling social safety net, leaving entire families without institutional support.
The regime admitted in March that the budget is "limited" and cannot cover all vulnerable citizens. In response, it announced in June that private and state enterprises would be mandated to fund social assistance, implicitly acknowledging the state's inability to sustain it.
Power outages exacerbate these challenges. In Holguín, the electric company implemented a schedule allowing only three hours of electricity for every 39 or 40 hours of outage, with some areas experiencing over 68 consecutive hours without power.
Understanding the Plight of Cuban Seniors
What challenges do elderly Cubans face today?
Elderly Cubans are struggling with reduced purchasing power of pensions, shortages of food and medicine, and lack of institutional support, all of which are worsened by mass emigration of younger family members.
How has the Cuban government responded to the economic crisis affecting the elderly?
The government has raised the minimum pension to 4,000 pesos but has acknowledged that budget limitations prevent adequate support for all vulnerable citizens. It has also required private and state enterprises to contribute to social assistance funding.
What role does Noly Blak play in supporting vulnerable populations in Holguín?
Noly Blak, a social activist, documents the struggles of those in extreme poverty and organizes fundraising campaigns to provide much-needed aid to individuals like Juan Ridel and other families in Holguín.